Ventilated ironing board



Jan. 24, 1950 l.. R. MUELLER VENTILATED IRONING BOARD 2 shets-sheet 1 Filed June 13, 1946 INVENTOR. 4' af/ je. Mafu/zze 8% MMM Jan. 24, 1950 1 R, MUELLER 2,495,468

VENTILATED IRONING BOARD Fild June l5, l1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 uw IHM MII Lenin" IlluY i IN VEN TOR.

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Affo/EWEM Patented Jan. 24,V 1950 VENTILATED moNINc BOARD Lloyd It. Mueller,

Milwaukee, Wis., assigner to Gender, Paeschke & Frey Co., Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application June 13, 1946, Serial No.

1 Claim.

an ironing board which will assist the ironingV process by also removing moisture from' fabric being ironed.

rihese objects are accomplished by providing an ironing board which has a top containing a plurality of apertures positioned at intervals throughout its area. and a bottom member forming with the top an air chamber or compartment.

The bottom member has an air intake tunnel in which is mounted air moving means operated by an electric motor or other engine. The operation of the air moving means causes pressure to be created within the air chamber and forces air outwardly through the apertures in the top of the board. This air continually passes through any pad and cover set used with the board and any fabric placed on the board to be ironed. In the process of passing through, such air evapcrates moisture from the pad, cover set and fabric and thus aids in the ironing process. In order to increase the rate of evaporation or absorption, the tunnel may be provided with a heating element through which air from the air moving means must pass as it enters the chamber. The heated air has a higher m'oisture removing capacity. Y

The novel features, which are considered characteristic of the invention, are set forth withparticularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view taken on the longitudinal axis of an ironing board embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the ironing board viewed in Figure 1 with parts shown broken away for clarity in illustration;

Figure 3 is a top plan View of the ironing board illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view 4--4 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of an ironing board embodying a modification of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings by reference numerals the ironing board comprises a m'etal top I0 which has integrally formed therewith longitudinally extending downwardly projecting reinforcing ribs II. The top of the board is shaped like the conventional ironing board having a head and toe portion. The periphery of the ironing board is provided with a depending skirt over which is secured a reinforcing flange I2. The board thus formed is rigid and strong enough to support between its edges the weight placed thereon during the ironing process.V A plurality of apertures designated at I3 are formed in the top I at spaced intervals along the areas between the ribs II. The purpose of these apertures is to permit air to be upper surface of the ironing throughout its entire area.

In order to provide an air distributing cham ber or compartment a bottom member I4 is fastened to the underside of the top I0 so as to lie iiush against the ribs II. This .forms a series of air channels or pockets extending longitudinally for the extent of the ironing board.v To supply taken on the line board substantially each of these channels with air under pressure,

the bottom member I4 is provided withV a distributing manifold I5 which extends transversely of the ironing board and communicates with each of the aforesaid channels. An air tunnel I6 communicates with the manifold I5 and has a cylindrical side portion merging into an upwardly and outwardly flaring inverted cone-shaped portion to blend and join with the bottom member I4 and distributing manifold I5. The air tunnel I6 is also provided with a circular bottom. As shown in detail in Figure 2, the bottom around its outer edge and at spaced intervals is provided with air intake openings I1. Within the air tunnel I6 is positioned an air-moving device such as a propeller I8 or other conventional type of air fan. To provide motive power for the propeller I8, an electric motor I9 is mounted on the outside of the bottom and is connected to the fan. Any commonly known switching means may be used to control the operation of the fan. It has been found of practical manufacturing advantage to form the distributing manifold I5 and air tunnel I6 as a separate unit indicated at 20 and subsedischarged to the quently weld such unit to the other parts of the bottom member id. Transverse brace members 2i and 22 are secured to the bottom of the ironing board to furnish support for the customaryr type of folding legs (not shown).

In the ordinary use of an ironing board to iron materials the top is covered with a pad held in place by a cover set. These elements are wellknown in the art and are therefore not described. During the ironing process it is essential to drive the moisture out of the material being roned and give it a permanent set during such process. During such process moisture is collected in the pad and cover set which has a tendencyito prolong such process. With the ironing board of this invention the propeller is forces air, taken in through the intakes l?, upwardly through the air tunnel EE and into the distributing manifold l5 from whence it proceeds along each of the channels between the ribs il and escapes simultaneously through each, of the apertures E3. Thus air is forced through the pad and cover set substantially over their entire area and prevents these members from accumulating moisture. At the saine time a certain amount ci such air will pass through the fabric positioned on the ironing board and aid the evaporation of any moisture init.

If theair forced through the pad, cover set and fabric to be ironed is also heated above the ambient temperature, the effective rate of evaporation will be increased. To eiectuate this a heating element 23 shown in Figure 5 is inserted betweenthe propeller i8 and the-upper end of the air tunnel it. This element adds heat to the air which is forced through it andthus the air escaping through the apertures la is hotter than the surrounding air, keeping heat in the pad and cover set and causing any moisture absorbed therein to more rapidly evaporate.

Although only one embodiment o the invention-is shown and described herein, it will be understood that this application is intended to cover such changes or modiiications as come within the spirit of the Yinvention or scope of the following claim.

I claim:

An ironing board comprising a flat metal top, a series of longitudinally extending laterally spaced top reinforcing ribs in contact with and supporting said top from therebelow, a bottom member lying flash against said ribs to forni a series of air channels extending longitudinally of said'board; a plurality of spaced apertures formed in said top and-leading from said channels to the top or" said board, a transversely eX- tending opening in said bottom member between the'ends thereof to provide a common access Jo all said channels, a unit secured to said ening comprising a distributing manifold posidic-ned below and extending transversely or said bottoni member and having the sides thereof secured to said opening, van air tunnel positioned below bottom member and attached to the central part of said manifold, said tunnel having a cylindrical side portion merging into an upwardly and outwardlyv flaring inverted cone-shaped portion joined to said opening and said manifold, said` tunnel having a circular bottom provided wit intake openings, and an air moving device posi-- tioned within said air tunnel whereby air is brought in through said intake openings and directed upwardly through said air tunnel into said manifold and air channels.

LLOYD R. MUELLER.

REFERENCES CITED yThe following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS lfumber Name Date 1,755,488 Parizot Apr. 22, 1930 1,876,277 Davis Sept. 5, 1932 2,029,112 Matzen Jan. 28, 1936 2,080,915 Hanney May 18, 1937 FORELXN PATENTS Number Country Date 472,353 Great Britain Sept. 22, 1937 

